Hypertext Webster Gateway: "catch"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

2. That by which anything is caught or temporarily fastened;
as, the catch of a gate.

3. The posture of seizing; a state of preparation to lay hold
of, or of watching he opportunity to seize; as, to lie on
the catch. [Archaic] --Addison.

The common and the canon law . . . lie at catch, and
wait advantages one againt another. --T. Fuller.

4. That which is caught or taken; profit; gain; especially,
the whole quantity caught or taken at one time; as, a good
catch of fish.

Hector shall have a great catch if he knock out
either of your brains. --Shak.

5. Something desirable to be caught, esp. a husband or wife
in matrimony. [Colloq.] --Marryat.

6. pl. Passing opportunities seized; snatches.

It has been writ by catches with many intervals.
--Locke.

7. A slight remembrance; a trace.

We retain a catch of those pretty stories.
--Glanvill.

8. (Mus.) A humorous canon or round, so contrived that the
singers catch up each other's words.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

2. To seize after pursuing; to arrest; as, to catch a thief.
``They pursued . . . and caught him.'' --Judg. i. 6.

3. To take captive, as in a snare or net, or on a hook; as,
to catch a bird or fish.

4. Hence: To insnare; to entangle. ``To catch him in his
words''. --Mark xii. 13.

5. To seize with the senses or the mind; to apprehend; as, to
catch a melody. ``Fiery thoughts . . . whereof I catch the
issue.'' --Tennyson.

6. To communicate to; to fasten upon; as, the fire caught the
adjoining building.

7. To engage and attach; to please; to charm.

The soothing arts that catch the fair. --Dryden.

8. To get possession of; to attain.

Torment myself to catch the English throne. --Shak.

9. To take or receive; esp. to take by sympathy, contagion,
infection, or exposure; as, to catch the spirit of an
occasion; to catch the measles or smallpox; to catch cold;
the house caught fire.

10. To come upon unexpectedly or by surprise; to find; as, to
catch one in the act of stealing.

11. To reach in time; to come up with; as, to catch a train.

{To catch fire}, to become inflamed or ignited.

{to catch it} to get a scolding or beating; to suffer
punishment. [Colloq.]

{To catch one's eye}, to interrupt captiously while speaking.
[Colloq.] ``You catch me up so very short.'' --Dickens.

{To catch up}, to snatch; to take up suddenly.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Have is have, however men do catch. --Shak.

2. To be held or impeded by entanglement or a light
obstruction; as, a kite catches in a tree; a door catches
so as not to open.

3. To take hold; as, the bolt does not catch.

4. To spread by, or as by, infecting; to communicate.

Does the sedition catch from man to man? --Addison.

{To catch at}, to attempt to seize; to be eager to get or
use. ``[To] catch at all opportunities of subverting the
state.'' --Addison.

{To catch up with}, to come up with; to overtake.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

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